The storm passed, the flood came with a torrential, turbid stream, submerging and washing away the entire newly planted carrot area of Duc Chinh commune, Cam Giang district (Hai Duong). But all that is just a story of the past, because this spring joy has returned to this land.
For the past half month, the carrot growing area of hundreds of hectares in Duc Chinh commune, mainly located on the banks of the Thai Binh river, has begun to enter the peak harvest period. In the large fields, groups of farmers sit in rows, enthusiastically pulling carrots and chatting animatedly... The sound of a good harvest spreads throughout the fields.
Carrots are packed in plastic bags and spread across the fields, looking like a painting from above. The traffic in the carrot-growing area is spacious and the concrete is clean. Trucks go to the edge of the fields to transport carrots to processing plants.
Holding a bunch of big, beautiful, golden carrots in her hand, Mrs. Tran Thi Be in An Phu village excitedly said: "God has blessed us with a golden harvest. This year's carrots are beautiful and the yield is very high. My family's 7 hectares have almost no rejects."
Joining us in the field, Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuat, Director of Duc Chinh Agricultural Service Cooperative, could not hide his joy. He said that the carrot yield has never been as high as this year, averaging 2 - 2.5 tons/sao, about 2 - 3 quintals/sao higher than the same period last year.
Duc Chinh commune is considered the "capital" of carrot cultivation in Cam Giang district with an area of about 360 hectares. Dozens of farmers in the commune have also gone to some neighboring provinces and cities such as Hung Yen, Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Thai Binh... to rent land to grow about 1,200 hectares of carrots. The carrot output produced by farmers in the commune in the 2024 winter crop is very large.
At this time, farmers in the commune have harvested about 70% of the area. "The rate of green carrots at the beginning of this year was very low, the selling price decreased slightly compared to the same period last year, but farmers still made a profit because of the high yield," Mr. Thuat informed.
Farmers in Duc Chinh commune are happily harvesting the "golden season" on the very land that just 6 months ago brought them so much sadness.
In September 2024, storm No. 3 (storm Yagi) with the strongest intensity in the past few decades made landfall, including Hai Duong. The storm dissipated, floods from upstream rushed to the downstream of major rivers. The carrot growing area in Duc Chinh commune, located next to Thai Binh river, was submerged in immense water.
The historic flood swept away and submerged all the newly planted carrot fields of the farmers here. The water receded, and the carrot growing areas were flooded with mud like a swamp, with many places covered in half a meter of alluvial soil, and some places as thin as a few dozen centimeters. Many farmers were bewildered, not knowing where to start again.
But God did not take everything away from the farmers. After the flood receded, the sky cleared, the clouds cleared, and the sun rose, drying the land quickly. Duc Chinh farmers encouraged each other to mobilize machinery and manpower to clean the fields and improve the soil. The large amount of alluvium deposited made the land in this specialized farming area, which was already beautiful, even more fertile.
Carrots replanted after the flood grew rapidly. There were almost no pests or diseases because the flood had wiped out all the eggs, larvae, and pathogens on this crop. For 4 consecutive months since planting, there was little rain and lots of sunshine, creating favorable conditions for the carrots to grow well, setting a record for productivity. Especially in the 4 months from planting to harvest, there was little rain, the carrots were covered with soil (not washed away by rainwater), so the proportion of green-headed carrots (the type of carrots used for export) was much lower than in previous years.
A farmer in the commune was pulling carrots while chatting with me and shared: "I thought the storm and flood would ruin the crop, but it turned out to be an incredibly good crop."
Carrots grown by Duc Chinh farmers in the commune and neighboring provinces and cities are transported by trucks every day to local processing facilities for export.
The whole commune has 5 large-scale carrot processing facilities for export. Every day, the processing and packaging facilities export an average of 450 - 500 tons to markets in Korea, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and some countries in the Middle East. "This year, we have invited 8 new foreign enterprises to sign contracts to purchase carrots. About 90% of the carrot output of farmers in the commune is exported to other countries, an increase of nearly 10% compared to the same period last year. The remaining carrots are purchased by some domestic enterprises to make chili sauce, juice, and dried to serve instant noodle production enterprises," said Mr. Thuat.
Since the beginning of the season, all carrot shipments exported from Duc Chinh to foreign countries have met the standards of the importing countries. No orders have been returned due to violations of commitments on pesticide residues, fertilizers, etc.
Head of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection (Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hai Duong province) Pham Duc Loc is a person who regularly works with farmers in Duc Chinh commune during the production process. Going to the fields with farmers these days, Mr. Loc cannot help but be happy when the positive actions of the professional agency and the efforts of the people have been duly rewarded with a bumper crop.
Recognizing that only export carrots can bring high value, from the beginning of the season, officers of the provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection regularly followed the fields, propagating and guiding farmers in selecting varieties, planting and caring for carrots according to the correct safety procedures, according to the standards set by importing countries, especially the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Many guidance documents have also been drafted to be sent to the grassroots level for local propagating to farmers for implementation.
"The carrot samples in Duc Chinh that we took for quick testing were all safe, with no traces of pesticides or growth stimulants detected... This shows that the people here have thoroughly understood and implemented the carrot export production process set out by the professional agency. It is a great joy that more and more carrots are being exported," said Mr. Loc.
The 2024 winter carrot harvest in Duc Chinh commune is expected to last until the end of March or early April this year. The good news is that in recent days, the price of carrots has increased to 7,000 VND/kg, an increase of 2,000 VND/kg compared to the beginning of the season. The joy of farmers in the carrot capital is even more multiplied.
TIEN MANH - TUAN ANH
Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/niem-vui-o-thu-phu-ca-rot-duc-chinh-sau-tran-lut-lich-su-406295.html
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